Waiting and Wanting
by GreenField
Summary: The story of how Alice and Jasper met. You'll all know it if you read Eclipse, but I just had a sudden, mad urge to write this. It's a only a short story though. Please review, I'd be so grateful!
1. The Bar

**A/N: Okay, loads of people have probably done this, and we all know this story anyway, but I wanted to put my own perspective on it. I love Jasper and Alice, I love the way their relationship seems so simple yet complex. Plus my best friend Alexie is like the real-life Alice. She so should have played her in the movie. Not that I have anything against Ashley Green. So this is dedicated to Alexie, partly as a one-day-late birthday present and partly because I know she'll like it. Thanks Lecky! **

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Jasper ducked his head down and held his arm like a bar across his face, to protect himself from the raging wind and bucket loads of rain. Not that he needed protecting, except maybe from….. No, he couldn't stop to think about that.

He hadn't realised the weather would be so bad in Philadelphia. At least it was less likely that people would notice him. He felt uneasy outside. He didn't want to be noticed. He was so unbelievably sick and tired of being noticed, being needed, all the time.

A crumby, run down diner was just a few metres away. He brushed the rain out of his eyes - was it rain? - and started staggering towards the tiny building.

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Alice smiled brightly at the waitress, handing over a crisp new dollar. She pulled the cold glass of water towards her as if she was actually going to drink it. She didn't give a damn about wasting one measly dollar. She'd be with people soon, people that she already liked, who intrigued her, and who also would be able to financially support her, if she needed it. To support him, too.

"Thank you" she said in her sing-song voice. She still hadn't got used to the sound of her own voice. Not that she could remember what she had sounded like before. It really was very frustrating.

Alice spun around on the stool once, twice, three times. She giggled childishly. A group of men at the table stared at her. She wasn't used to that yet, either.

She got up and went over to a rickety games machine in the corner. She played three games before she got bored. She won fifteen dollars in returns.

She went back to the stool, pretended to sip the water. One of the men from the table got up and stood beside her.

"Would you like another drink, doll?" he leered. Alice smiled.

"No, thank you. I'm waiting for someone. If he ever turns up" she couldn't keep the impatience out of her voice.

"He'd be a fool not to" the man complimented her. He didn't frighten her. She knew that he would give up in a couple of seconds. Even if he didn't, she could deal with him. He would be easy to take.

"I hope he thinks the same" Alice replied, simpering. The man chuckled and walked away, sitting back down with his friends. They teased him about not being able to score. She heard every word.

Alice tapped on the table. Her nails were bitten down to stubs. She didn't know why, or when, she had done it. She wished she could understand herself.

She noticed that the waitress was pretty. How dare the waitress be pretty. She had already staked her claim on him. He wasn't allowed to be charmed by a pretty, pathetic little human.

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Jasper walked into the diner. The fluorescents were far too bright when he looked up, after shaking the rain off his clothes and his dark blonde hair, and he had to squeeze his eyes shut, then blink rapidly before he had any sense of vision. He went to a stool and sat down, making sure that the waitress who came over to him couldn't see his scarred arms. He couldn't hide the marks on his neck, however. Polo necks weren't a good look for him. She smiled.

"What can I get you?" she asked. There was definitely a double meaning there. A small, pixie-like girl sitting on a stool nearby scowled.

"Nothing, thank you, ma'am" I replied politely. She walked away, towards the pixie girl, but she jumped up from her stool and walked up to him instead.

She was a vampire. He knew it instantly, knew it by the shade of her eyes, the pale porcelain colour of her skin. He feared her almost instantly. He was entitled to be wary of beautiful female vampires. After Maria… yes, he had every right.

Alice smiled at him. He was handsome, she realised, even more handsome than in her visions. She felt a pull towards him that she had never experienced before. Like an ache in her chest.

Jasper looked warily back at her. She was stunning, he realised, more beautiful than he had first thought. He felt something stirring deep inside his chest, something new.

"You've kept me waiting a long time" Alice told Jasper, her eyes glittering strangely. Happily. Teasingly.

Jasper ducked his head, feeling guilty for reasons that he could not describe.

"I'm sorry, ma'am" he said sincerely. Alice smiled again, a glowing smile. It felt like her heart was pounding, even though it had stopped pounding a while ago now. Jasper felt the same way.

Alice held out her hand, her long white fingers outstretched. She was in love with him. She needed him to take her hand.

Jasper looked at the pale hand that she held out to him. He needed her. Somehow he knew that, within just a few moments.

He took her hand.

Alice's face split into her biggest smile yet. Jasper had to smile back. She gave him something, something that he hadn't had for such a long time, an impossibly long time.

Hope.

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**A/N 2: What did you think? Please review! **


	2. The Motel

A/N: Due to the demand of one very kind reviewer (and the demand of my dearest friend, Alexie, who is also now my editor in chief, otherwise known as my Beta! Congratulations, Bellarina!) I am adding to this story. It will only be three chapters long, however, as we all know what happens after the points which I will cover. I'll also be writing a three chapter Carlisle and Esme story, and a three chapter Rosalie and Emmett story, so if you do like this one, please read them too. Thank you for your kind reviews and readings – please continue to review, I find that it helps me write better.

Everything belongs to the Goddess of all Gods Stephenie Meyer, blah de blah. Enjoy! xx

Jasper sat patiently on the high-stool while Alice basically handed him his redemption, his salvation, on a plate. He tore hefty chunks of cracking red leather off of the padded seat of the stool, to stop himself from looking at her too much. He was far too aware of her than he should be, after his dealings with Maria, and he knew it. But she was helping him, and although she knew all of his past, she didn't seem to give a damn about any of it. She was at ease with him, he knew, because he could feel the tenor of her emotions. She even liked him well enough.

Alice talked to Jasper without really thinking about the words. She let them spill out, trusting her mind to filter out the unnecessary parts, and instead using her eyes more than any of her other senses. She looked at the slight curl of his dark golden brown hair, the dark red of his eyes, so dark that they looked almost black, which at least drew less attention to him. He was trying not to look at her too often, she noticed, and she wondered why. Everytime he looked up and saw her looking back, his eyes darted quickly back to the seat of his stool.

"Jasper?" Alice prompted, her dark eyes shining, "What do you say, Jasper?"

"It all sounds great" Jasper admitted, "But are you sure you want me to come along? I mean…what with my past...and Maria..."

"I don't care about all that" Alice laughed like chiming bells, waving a hand airily, "You're a good Southern gentleman at heart. And a good Southern gentleman like youurself wouldn't let me travel alone would he?"

Jasper smiled, "I guess not"

"We should probably find a motel or something. We're gonna freak them out if we turn up in the dead of night, like proper vampires" Alice suggested with a grin. Jasper liked the way that she didn't care about what she was, or try to deny it, or hide it away by speaking in whispers. She had accepted herself. Now why couldn't he do the same?

"A motel would be okay. Humans put the best sitcoms on at night" Jasper whispered back. Alice giggled. She liked him a little too much, she realised – she might even be in love with him. Maybe she might try to kiss him later.

They found a motel on the nearby freeway. The guy who took their money smelled like sweat and tobacco, and had a heavily made up prostitute sitting on his knee, taking a drag. He eyed Alice appreciatively, but when he caught the almost possessive gleam in Jasper's eye he looked quickly back to his tiny television.

"Not the nicest place you've ever been to, I expect?" Jasper asked. He wanted to know more about beautiful, fairy-like Alice, with her visions and her wind-chime laugh and her sunny smile.

Alice groaned inwardly. She'd been hoping that Jasper wouldn't ask her about her past.

"I guess not" she shrugged.

"What about in your human life?" Jasper pressed. Alice walked a little way ahead of him, holding her key out like a weapon.

"Here we are!" she said brightly, "Two-o-four"

It was pretty scummy and not very well cleaned, and the television was just as small and useless looking as the man at the counters' had been. The bed was huge, dominating the small room, and the sheets were made of horrible shiny material that to a normal human would have been freezing cold.

"Maybe we should have picked a better motel" Alice said ruefully, ruffling her short dark hair anxiously. Jasper frowned curiously at her

"Why won't you tell me about when you were human?" he asked. He could really feel her emotions this time – she was annoyed that he had asked and a little upset about telling him the truth.

"Because I don't remember any of it" she confessed at last, "I have no idea what profession I did, or what food I liked, or if I had a family...I don't remember a thing. I don't even know who changed me. It's so frustrating sometimes!"

Jasper noticed she really was distressed by it, "Don't worry" he said gently, "It might come back to you"

Alice smiled weakly at him. He really was kinda perfect.

"I suppose" she agreed,"Sorry. Let's watch crappy sitcoms"

Jasper sat down on the edge of the bed while Alice started fiddling with the television. It took her only three minutes to figure out the problem.

"TV's out" she sighed, "It's completely busted. Great"

Alice and Jasper looked at each other for a moment. Alice gulped, more loudly than she had meant to. For once she was glad that her heart couldn't beat – it would definitely have embarrassed her right at that moment if it had.

She leaned forward.

Jasper got there first, and he kissed her. Neither of them ever wanted to let go.

This is so completely different from Maria, Jasper thought.

This is so completely perfectly wonderful, Alice thought.

Alice's long, pale fingers tangled into Jasper's curls. Jasper's hands gripped Alice's black hair in the same manner.

Alice moved away slightly, a confused look furrowing her brow, "I think I love you" she told Jasper, slightly amazed.

"Bet you didn't see that one coming" Jasper teased.

"No…" Alice said slowly. A smile curved her red-pink lips.

"What?" Jasper asked curiously.

"I think I can see what's going to happen next" Alice whispered, pressing her lips fiercely to Jaspers' and reaching out for his shirt.

A/N 2: I think we can all foresee what's happening next too. I didn't want to go into too much detail, because then I'd have to make the rating higher, sooooo.....please review! xxx


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